Two Sides of the Same Coin
by snwwhite5
Summary: Lara and Kira Clarke were orphaned young when their parents were killed in a mugging on the streets of London. Upon the death of their foster father, the two twins flee to America to start a new life, but living on the streets of New York isn't easy when you're only teenagers. When Charles and Erik recruit them, they realize how different they truly are.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs and any original plot lines :)**

* * *

Black painted lips pulled into a smirk as she pocketed a wad of bills, her victims walking away mumbling profanities under their breath. Today had been especially profitable; she swore the people of New York got dumber and more gullible with each passing day. Simple sleight of hand tricks were all it took today to relieve people of their extra cash. Her smirk softened into a small smile as she thought about how she had made enough today to bring her sister home something special. The poor girl had been struggling even more than usual lately and she planned to stop at the bakery down the road from their meager apartment to pick her up an apple pie-her favorite.

Even though she tried not to think in such ways, she couldn't help the passing frustration that bubbled within her at the thought of her sister. She loved her twin dearly, but shouldering the burden of providing for both of them alone weighed heavily on her shoulders. She knew that her sister couldn't do much in her condition and she'd never hold something she couldn't help against her. She was just tired, tired of worrying about both of their survival.

"Hello," a warm, accented voice greeted her, jarring her out of her thoughts. Jade eyes met blue as she looked up at the man in front of her table. It was a nice surprise to hear someone else's accent match her own. The fellow Brit had a kind face and neatly styled brown hair. Another man stood behind him; he was taller and had a cool, confident presence. While the first man smiled her, the second's face remained stoic and impassive. Her curiosity was peaked.

"Hi boys," she greeted, forcing her voice to sound alluring. "Can I interest you in a game?" She could tell these men wouldn't be as easy to fool as most, but she remained confident. She had a few _special_ tricks up her sleeves, after all.

"Well, why not?" the British man agreed, a smile still plastered on his face.

"It's a simple one, I'm sure a smart man like yourself will have no trouble winning." She chose the 3 cup, one ball trick-simple, yes, but a classic for a reason. She let him guess correctly a few times to bolster his confidence, before enacting the actual trick. She repressed her smirk, anticipating the extra cash she was about to pocket.

"The left cup," he guessed. She was about to savor in her victory when she realized he was correct. She swallowed her surprise. No matter, she would just pull out the big guns.

"You're so good at this!" she cooed, pouting slightly. "One more round?"

"Sure," he agreed. The other man's lips quirked into an amused half-smile, though she missed it entirely. This time she let the power flow through her fingertips as she shuffled the cups, creating the illusion that one cup clearly contained the ball when in fact another one did. Confident that her illusion would hold, she looked up expectantly. The British man lifted a hand and pressed his finger to his temple, letting out a soft "hmmm."

"The middle cup," he stated, an eyebrow raised as if to say _is that all you got?_

"H-how…?" she stuttered, baffled that he saw through her fail-proof powers.

"We're just like you, Kira," the second man said, his deep voice donning a German accent. At the sound of her name panic welled up in her chest. She was very careful not to ever give anyone her real name, so how he knew it she had no idea.

"Do not be alarmed, Kira," the Brit assured. "My name is Charles and my friend is Erik. At the risk of sounding even creepier than I'm sure we already seem, would you kindly take us to your apartment so we can talk? It would be best if we talked to Lara as well."

Kira's green eyes darted back and forth between the two men, not sure what to make of them. What if they were here to arrest her? The one was British; what if they found out what she did? She quickly flipped the table over at them, her props scattering. Bolting off in the opposite direction, she moved her legs as fast as she possibly could.

All of a sudden she felt a tug pull her neck backwards, her chain necklace choking her on its own accord. She coughed violently as she struggled to continue her getaway, which proved to be futile.

As sudden as it began, her necklace released her. She gasped as the air rushed back into her lungs.

"Sorry," a German voice said behind her. "I thought your belt was metal; forgot about your necklace."

"Excuse me?" Kira rasped, still coughing, confusion etched over her features.

"The chain," he said simply, as if that cleared everything up. He sighed at her still confused face. "I manipulate metal."

"Oh."

"If it puts your mind at ease, my dear, I am not with the police. We are not here to arrest you for what happened to Mr. Kole." It most certainly did not put her mind at ease; how the hell did he know about Henry? "I'm a telepath."

"What number am I thinking of?" she asked skeptically. _87_.

"Eighty-seven," he replied as she thought it, Erik snickering beside him.

"A telepath," Kira said, testing the words as though if she said it she would suddenly believe it. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised; after all, her and her sister were prime examples that such things were possible. "Alright, but why exactly should I bring you back to my home? You: complete strangers."

"I understand your skepticism Ms. Clarke, however there are two simple reasons." At her impatient look, Charles continued. "We can take you to others like yourself…" he began, pausing to put a smile on his face."

"And…?"

"And," he continued, "I can teach your sister to control her abilities."

Well damn, that changed things.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi all!**

 **I won't normally update every day; I start law school in a few weeks so I will be very busy with school work when that happens. Until then I will probably be posting pretty often since I still have a lot of down time. This story will follow First Class, Days of Future Past, and Apocalypse, although I will make some changes, obviously, to fit my characters in and I have a few ideas for original plot lines to weave in.**

 **Here's chapter 2!**

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Lara Clarke laid curled in a ball in the middle of her small bedroom, blanket pulled tight around herself as though it had the power to ward off the emotions flooding her. Not for the first time she found herself cursing the neighbors next door for moving in the apartment beside them. The other apartment had been blissfully unoccupied until now, which had granted her a reprieve from being constantly overwhelmed by other people's feelings. But of course it didn't last.

Waves of anger spread through her veins as she heard two of her neighbors get into a screaming match. This was not uncommon: she got the sense that the parents of the family were very unhappily married and fought constantly. A pang of sadness stabbed her heart, probably from the youngest child hearing her parents scream at each other. As if that wasn't enough, bitterness clawed at her insides and she guessed that was from the older sister, probably resenting her parents for fighting in front of her baby sister.

The multitude of emotions overwhelmed her and she felt tears streaming out of her eyes as her skull pounded violently. Sobs wracked her chest and she prayed for it to stop.

She heard the front door open and felt her sister's presence through her always complex emotions: the heavy weight of her stress on her chest, the pity she felt towards Lara pulling at her heart, and lastly the usual small pricking at her heart that was a result of her hidden resentment towards her for being so useless. Her silent sobs turned to strangled gasps as the three new emotions added on top of the others already wreaking havoc on her.

Her door flew open and she just barely registered her sister call out her name; all the sounds around her were muted, as though she was listening underwater. This wasn't uncommon; sometimes the barrage of emotions hindered her other senses.

When she saw the outline of a man through her blurred vision come towards her she scrambled away, backing herself into the corner of the small room. Her own panic was the spark that finally set off the volatile mix of unstable emotions within her.

Doubled over in pain, her delicate hands pulling at her hair and eyes squeezed shut, she was completely unaware of the chaos ensuing around her.

Whatever Kira expected to happen when she brought the two men back to her dingy apartment, this was definitely not it.

Upon entering the room they had heard Lara's strangled sobs and she had immediately rushed into the room to find her twin having what she could only describe as a fit in the middle of the floor. She had screamed Lara's name, panic surging through her at the sight of her sister in so much agony.

Charles had approached Lara cautiously, which only caused her to throw herself into the corner of her room. Tears streamed down Kira's face as she saw her sister hunched in a corner, screaming in pain. She felt Erik put a gentle hand on her back in an attempt to comfort her. It did little, but she would later appreciate the sentiment.

Just then Charles let out a scream of his own, his voice breaking from the force of his agony. One of his hands went to his head and the other to his chest, gripping both as though his life depended on it.

"Charles!" Erik called, concern evident in his voice he he ran over to check on the telepath.

"I tried to...calm her mind," he forced the words out, breathing heavy at the exertion. "She lashed out…" he screamed again before gritting his teeth and forcing out the rest of his explanation. "She's projecting...I can't…"

Kira couldn't take hearing her sister's screams, or Charles' for that matter, any longer. Desperate to help, an idea came to her mind. She rushed over between them, laying a hand on both of their arms. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, creating the illusion that both of them were alone in a room. She focused the illusion to include peace in all senses: it was quiet, no one was around for them to pick up their thoughts or emotions, they were calm, happy.

Slowly, Lara and Charles relaxed as the illusion took hold, their screams subsiding. Hesitantly, she released Charles from the illusion first. His eyes refocused and he looked at Kira in awe.

"Thank you," he whispered, trying to catch his breath. Still occupied with keeping her sister wrapped up in the illusion, she nodded.

"Help," she said shortly, not able to talk and hold the illusion at the same time.

Charles reached out, cradling Lara's head in his hands. He closed his eyes and Kira waited with baited breath. A few moments later, his sister's eyes shut and she slumped against the wall.

"I eased her into unconsciousness," he explained. "She'll remain asleep for awhile. We should take her somewhere where she'll be okay upon awakening." Kira could only bring herself to nod slightly before standing up on shaky feet. She had never used her powers in such a way before and she was feeling the effects of exerting so much energy. Strong arms gripped hers in support and she muttered a thank you to who ended up being Erik.

Charles, though still weak from her sister's accidental assault, bent down and scooped Lara's unconscious form into his arms. He silently left the room, the other two following wordlessly behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

When Lara's eyes opened she noticed through her blurred vision that she was in a white room, one that was very brightly lit. A jolt of panic rushed through her as her hands searched for her glasses. The bed she was laid in donned a ridiculously plush comforter and she found herself getting tangled in the foreign material in her desperate search.

Long fingers reached out in front of her gaze, her glasses in their grasp. She quickly grabbed them and slid the square frames up the bridge of her nose. As her world came into view, Lara saw a young man standing before her with a gentle smile gracing his features. He sat down on the edge of the bed, the action done cautiously as though he was trying not to scare away a skittish animal. She did not recognize this man nor the room in which she was in, though neither was what startled her the most.

"Why can't I feel you?" she whispered, confusion laced in her words. She always felt every person's emotions, without fail, no exceptions. But right now Lara didn't even feel a hint of any emotion other than her own. Was something wrong with him? Was something wrong with _her_?

 _Nothing is wrong with you, Lara._

The words appeared in her mind, a whisper flittering through her thoughts. The disembodied voice made her jump in surprise, though it was somehow also soothing and she felt her nerves calm. The man in front of her smiled again, a bright twinkle in his blue eyes. Something in her mind clicked.

"You're a telepath," she guessed and was rewarded with an even wider smile.

"Yes, very good Lara!" the same voice praised, now coming from the man's moving lips.

"You know my name, may I know yours as well?" She thought it was only fair. After all, he probably knew more about her than she cared for him to at this point.

"Right, of course! My name is Charles Xavier," he offered pleasantly, embarrassed by his lack of manners. He had meant to introduce himself right away, but found himself continually distracted by her eyes: one was jade, just like her twin's, and the other was a stunning aquamarine. He wondered idly if they were a result of her mutation.

Lara, on the other hand, felt increasingly uncomfortable under his gaze, not unaware that he was staring.

"It's Heterochromia," she explained when she realized what he was staring at. "I was born with it, while my powers didn't show until I was twelve, so I assume they are not related."

"Are you sure you're not the telepath?" he joked with a chuckle. A small giggle escaped her lips.

"It's not the first time someone has looked at my eyes that way. It wasn't hard to make the leap." Lara realized then that her question from before had gone unanswered and her features pulled into a small frown. "You never answered me." Charles sighed.

"I am blocking myself from your empathy. We," he began before sighing again, heavily this time. She gave him an expectant look, urging him to continue. "We felt it would be best after what happened in your apartment."

Panic shot through her as she suddenly remembered flashes of the events of which he spoke. It was fragmented, but she clearly remembered a lot of screaming and not all of it was hers.

"Oh god," she choked out, now beginning to hyperventilate. "I hurt you, didn't I?" Suddenly feeling as though the strange sheets were confining her, Lara jumped out of the bed and began to frantically pace the floor. Her hands gripped her hair in an attempt to ground herself. She felt soft hands gently grab her arms and turn her around.

"Breathe, my dear. I am completely fine," Charles assured, keeping his voice low. Her mismatched eyes searched his blue ones, trying to discern whether or not he was lying to her. "Your sister created an illusion on both of us, blocking out all our senses. It stopped the onslaught. It was quite brilliant, really."

"Kira!" Lara exclaimed, suddenly ripped back into reality: the reality that she had no idea where she was or if her sister was nearby. She pulled herself away from Charles, searching the room for something to quell her growing uncertainty.

"She is here as well, with the others."

"The others?" She asked, eyebrows knitting in confusion. Charles simply smiled.

"We are at a secret CIA facility where there exists a division of fellow mutants. Your sister is safely with them on the other side of the base." Lara let out a disbelieving snort.

"Kira agreed to be brought to a government facility?"

"Yes, for a simple reason: I can help you learn control." Lara's gaze, which previously had been wandering the room, snapped immediately to meet Charles' eyes.

"What?" she whispered, voice breaking, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"We are not so different, you and I. I can _hear_ thoughts, and even when I am not trying I can still hear whispers. Sometimes it overwhelms my mind, just like others' emotions overwhelm you. I can help. You won't have to suffer anymore."

A lone tear dripped from Lara's long eyelashes and a bright smile appeared on her face for the first time in a very long time.

"Teach me. _Please_."

* * *

Across the facility Kira sat on a couch with a group of other people around her age. She felt mildly uncomfortable in the presence of so many other people; she lived a rather isolated life up until now, the only company she ever kept was that of her sister. After all, her twin had always been the only other person to ever understand her.

Now she hadn't seen her sister in over 24 hours and there were five others in this room who had abilities, just like her; she didn't know what to make of it.

"We should think of code names!" the pretty blonde girl-Raven was her name, Kira recalled- sitting next to her suddenly exclaimed, silencing the rest of the voices. Everyone looked at her with differing levels of piqued interest. "We're government agents now; we should have secret code names." She paused for effect. "I want to be called Mystique," Raven declared, looking quite proud of herself. Kira figured this wasn't the first time the girl had thought about this.

"Damn!" the redheaded boy sitting across from them, Sean, exclaimed, a goofy pout on his face. " _I_ wanted to be called Mystique." Kira couldn't help but chuckle at his antics.

"Well tough! I called it!" A ripple of blue passed over the blonde's skin and all of a sudden a second Sean stood in her place. Kira jumped in surprise.

"Holy shit!" Kira jerked, startled at the sudden display, as Darwin, the dark skinned man across the room let out a "Woah!"

"And I'm way more mysterious than you," the Sean next to Kira drawled out, wiggling his eyebrows before changing back into Raven.

"That's brilliant," Kira admitted, grudgingly impressed by the other girl. Raven flashed a brilliant smile at her in response.

"Darwin, what about you?" Raven asked, prompting the man in question to stand, explaining that 'Darwin' was already a nickname.

"Check this out," he smirked, strutting over to the fish tank against the wall. He shoved his entire head under the water and large gills appeared on the sides of his face. Everyone cheered and Kira nodded her head in silent appreciation.

"What about you?" he asked, pointing at Sean. The boy clasped his hands together and donned a contemplative face.

"I'm gonna be...Banshee." Kira quirked an eyebrow curiously.

"Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" the nerdy guy on the other side of Raven asked. Kira couldn't remember his name...something with an H.

Sean instructed everyone to cover their ears and Kira immediately shoved her pointer fingers in hers. The boy bent down, his face level to the coffee table placed between the two couches. He sucked in a deep breath of air, turning his face to wink at Kira, before letting out a high pitched whistle. His aim apparently wasn't very good, as he missed the glasses atop the coffee table and instead shattered the sole large window in the room.

Everyone laughed but Kira laughed the loudest, clapping loudly at the accidental destruction of government property.

The pretty dark haired girl sitting on the other couch was apparently up next, declaring that her stage name was 'Angel'. Kira automatically felt a kinship towards the girl; they both clearly knew what it was like to need to resort to unsavory methods of making enough money to survive. The girl took off her leather jacket and Kira noticed the intricate tattoos decorating her shoulders and back. She gazed at them in appreciation: Kira herself had several tattoos, after all.

The 'tattoos' suddenly pried away from her tanned skin and became beautiful insect-like wings. They fluttered quickly and Kira let out a low whistle. As a little girl she had always wanted to fly and she imagined her younger self would have been infinitely jealous. Angel turned and spit some kind of acidic liquid out of her mouth, which shot out the window and landed on a statue, melting the top of it.

"I'm turned on _and_ disgusted," Darwin quipped, prompting Kira to roll her eyes.

"What's your name?" Angel asked the boy with glasses-Hank! That was his name!- whilst putting her jacket back on. Hank looked sheepish at the question, clearly uncomfortable under everyone's expectant gaze.

"How about Bigfoot?" the blonde kid, Alex, who had been quiet thus far suggested. He looked pretty smug at his dig and chuckled before taking a sip from his drink.

"Well you know what they say about guys with big feet. And, uh, yours are kind of small," Raven sassed, causing Alex to sneer at her. Kira let out a loud laugh and pat the girl on the back.

After everyone's snickers died down, people began asking Alex what his gift was. He scratched his head in response, stuttering out that he couldn't do it there. In response everyone insisted he go outside and show them, cheering him on when he looked hesitant at the idea.

Once everyone started chanting his name Alex acquiesced and walked outside, standing in front of the statue Angel had burned just a few minutes before. The rest of the young mutants stood behind the wall, peering around the corner of it so they could see his display.

"Get back!" he yelled, gesturing with his arm for them to hide behind the wall. Initially they did so, but curiosity got the best of Kira and she peeked her head around the corner again. Everyone else followed her lead.

"Get back!" he yelled again, annoyance in his tone. No one budged and he mumbled 'whatever' under his breath. Wanting a better view, Kira stepped into the middle of the opening where the window once was, standing boldly out in the open.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alex shouted at her. "Get the fuck back or you're going to get hurt!" She could tell she was pushing the limits of his patience, but didn't move a muscle except to raise her eyebrows in defiance, as if to say she wasn't scared. He shook his head in frustration, but turned his attention back to the statue in front of him.

He began moving his body in a circling motion and red rings of energy formed around him. His motions grew faster until he threw the energy rings, effectively cutting the statue in half and setting it on fire. A stray ring of energy zipped towards Kira, hitting the ground right in front of her feet. She didn't so much as flinch.

"You got a death wish?!" Alex yelled at her, eyes blazing furiously. Everyone else had jumped back when it happened and now looked apprehensive towards the two. Kira simply shrugged returning back to her seat on the couch as though nothing happened. "Hey!" he shouted at her again, approaching her with fists clenched. She turned her gaze to meet his eyes, her jade ones sporting a bored look. "What is wrong with you?"

"You don't scare me," she said simply, and the truth was that he really didn't. Nothing really scared her in this life other than her sister's suffering. Kira figured she would be okay standing in the open-which she was- but if he had hurt her accidentally, well, perhaps she deserved it.

Something sparked in his eyes and she recognized it, having seen it looking back at her in the mirror many times. He was so furious because he had hurt someone before. Her eyes softened as she felt the guilt creep in, mumbling a quiet apology as she cast her gaze down to her lap.

"What about you, Kira? What can you do?" Raven asked her, breaking the incredibly awkward silence that hung in the room.

"Prepare to be amazed," Kira declared dramatically, rubbing her hands together and she stood up from her seat. She held her hands out in front of her, arms bent, and squinted her eyes in concentration. She conjured a raven to appear in the air, making it flutter over and land atop the blonde's head. The girl squealed in delight. Kira smirked, focusing her attention on Angel. She willed two giant white wings and a halo to appear on the girl, who rolled her eyes playfully in response. Last, she closed her eyes and focused all her power on herself. A chorus of gasps filled her ears and she opened her eyes to shocked faces.

"You disappeared!" Raven said, eyes wide.

"Nope, still right here," Kira assured, keeping up her illusion of being invisible.

"How?" Hank asked, not sure what exactly her powers were. Kira let the illusion fall and took a bow when everyone-minus Alex, who was still pissed at her- applauded.

"Charles calls it 'illusion manipulation,'" she explained. "Basically I can make you all see, hear, feel, etc. whatever I want by creating illusions."

"I got it!" Raven exclaimed, standing up and clapping her hands together in excitement. "Sorceress."

"Sorceress," Kira drawled out, testing the name on her tongue. Her lips pulled up into a pleased smirk. "I like it."


	4. Chapter 4

After the groups little show and tell, everyone dispersed to find a way to entertain themselves. Alex and Darwin were animatedly playing the pinball machine on one side of the room, apparently getting quite competitive as their voices occasionally could be heard tossing insults and trash talk at one another. Sean sat next to Angel, clearly trying to flirt with the poor girl who seemed less than interested. Hank and Raven were perched on two stools by the counter in the kitchenette talking to one another in hushed tones. Kira sat by herself on the couch opposite Angel and Sean, simply observing her fellow mutants.

She liked them all fine, she thought, but she couldn't help but wish her sister was here. She would have loved to meet all these new people, to have joined in on their cheers and laughs. Of course Kira knew that Lara was fine, Charles had assured her of that. She just hoped her twin could join them all soon.

"Hey, didn't Charles say there would be eight of us total? There are only seven of us," Raven ironically observed. Kira sighed.

"The last one is my twin sister, Lara," she explained, causing everyone's eyes to fall on her.

"There's another one of you? _Nice_ ," Sean smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. Angel whacked the back of his head.

"Where is she?" Angel asked, turning her eyes back to Kira and tilting her head curiously.

"Not exactly sure, to be frank. Charles took her elsewhere until she can control her powers a little better." At everyone's waiting stares she continued. "It's not my place to explain everything to you, but to put it simply Lara gets very overwhelmed around people."

When the others realized that she was not going to say any more on the matter, they resumed their respective activities. With a huff, Kira stood up and walked over to the refrigerator and poured herself another Coke, filling the glass only two-thirds of the way full. She reached into the inside pocket of her leather jacket and pulled out a decent size flask, filling the rest of the glass up with the rum it held.

Raven raised an eyebrow at her, having seen her spike her drink. Kira held the flask towards the blonde as if to ask if she wanted some. Raven's mouth quirked into a smile as she grabbed it from her hand and poured some into her own glass. Hank looked weary, unsure of whether or not he approved of the alcohol that had been brought into the mix.

Soon enough, though, everyone's drinks had been spiked and they all sat back down on the couches. She was suddenly glad she had brought two, as there was plenty to go around.

"I say we play a little game," Raven suggested once a pleasant buzz had started to hit everyone in the circle.

"What kind of game?" Hank asked her, clearly weary of what she had in mind.

"I say we go around and each person gets to ask someone else a question, and that person _has_ to answer honestly or else they have to drink." The thought of sharing secrets clearly made a few of the group uncomfortable, some more than others, but Raven held steadfast in her idea. "Look, we are going to be a team now. We should know a little about our teammates." Kira couldn't deny the girl had a point, although personally knew that she would probably be drinking more often than she would be answering any questions.

"I'll go first," Raven decided, scanning the group of faces to decide who she would ask a question. "Angel," she picked, pointing her finger at the other girl. "When did you get your powers?"

"I was fourteen," she said. "I woke up one morning in a cocoon-crazy, right?- and when I broke out of it I had these tattoos. I was looking at them in the mirror when all of a sudden, BAM, they turned into wings."

"A cocoon? Fascinating," Hank mused, his scientific mind whirring at the information.

"Alright, Alex," Angel decided after a moment of deliberation. "Why were you in solitary confinement?" Everyone looked at her, surprised. "What? I overheard people talking about it."

"I chose to be in solitary," he mumbled, avoiding eye contact with anyone. "Better than hurting someone." Silence fell upon the room, pitying glances being cast his way.

"Kira," Alex finally said, breaking the silence and looking her dead in the eyes. "What's with the scars on your face?" Kira flinched at the question, a hand reaching up and running a finger over the two lines that marred her skin from the middle of her forehead to her left eyebrow. Instead of answering she downed the rest of her drink in a single go.

"Oh no you don't," Alex said, eyes hard. "You owe me for that stunt you pulled earlier." Kira's eyes bore into his, her gaze a fierce glare that she hoped would make him back off. It didn't work. She looked him straight in the eyes, her stare unflinching and her jade eyes turning stoney.

"My foster father came home especially belligerent one night and decided to chuck a broken whiskey bottle at my sister. I stepped in front of her and it caught me in the face. Even though the cuts were so deep and wouldn't stop bleeding, he refused to take me to the hospital. They never got stitched up, hence the scar."

Throughout her whole admission she refused to look away from his eyes, taking pleasure in the way his anger turned to guilt. Once again a deafening silence hung in the room. When Alex went to say something, she excused herself harshly while grabbing the rest of her liquor and taking it with her.

She planned to finish the rest of it alone in her room, hoping it would ward away the nightmares she knew would come.

Lara had been laying on the bed practicing constructing and deconstructing the mental barriers Charles had taught her when the door opened. She continued staring at the ceiling, keeping her concentration focused on her practicing, even when someone entered the room and closed the door behind them.

"Your sister got everyone drunk last night and then locked herself in her room," Charles's voice filled the room, effectively breaking her concentration. "Thus far she refuses to come out." Lara couldn't tell if his voice sounded amused or annoyed, eventually deciding it was probably a bit of both.

"That sounds like Kira," she said, heaving her body into a sitting position on the bed to look at Charles. His hair was once again neatly styled and he wore a clean, simple button down shirt tucked into a nice pair of slacks. She got the impression he rarely dressed down.

"I guess they decided to play some game where they asked each other questions. She didn't want to answer one, was forced to, and made a dramatic exit." Lara sighed. Kira was never one to open up and she could imagine her twin did not take kindly to being forced into doing so.

"Dare I ask what the question was?"

"How she got her scars."

Lara groaned and flopped back down on the bed in exasperation. Out of all the things to ask, it _had_ to be that. Guilt creeped up through her veins as it normally did when she thought of her twin's scars. They were her fault and it killed her.

"You're projecting," Charles said gently, feeling the full extent of her guilt. He had see Kira's answer in Alex's mind so he knew why the poor girl felt this way. It broke his heart to realize, though, just how tortured Lara was over it.

By now he was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at her with concern. She cringed and muttered an apology, focusing on putting back up her mental barrier.

"Good, Lara, I can no longer feel your emotions," he praised, a sad smile on his face.

"Nor I yours," she mumbled, distracted by her own self-loathing.

"Lara," he gently said, laying a hand on hers. "You must not blame yourself…"

"I don't wish to talk about this, Charles." The clipped response and her pulling her hand away sharply shocked him; despite only knowing Lara a _very_ brief period of time he had learned that she was a soft spoken, open girl. Apparently some things made even the most resilient people shut down.

"I apologize," he whispered, at a loss as to what else to say. The young woman suddenly popped up off the bed and looked at him with a determined look in her eyes.

"Take me to my sister, please." It wasn't a request, it was a demand. His eyes searched hers and found that her resolve would not waver. He sighed, nodding and motioning for her to follow him. He lead her down the hallway to where the rest of the mutants were living, all the while keeping an eye on her to make sure she was okay.

Lara could feel her face pull in concentration as she actively worked to keep her barriers up. People passed them on their walk to her sister and, though it was extremely difficult, for the first time since she was young she didn't feel a single other person's emotions. If she wasn't so concerned for her twin she probably would have jumped up and down in glee.

Minutes later they stood in front of Kira's door and Lara tentatively knocked. When there was no answer she knocked again, this time announcing her presence. The floor flung open, revealing a very haggard Kira. When she saw Charles behind her twin, Kira tried to slam the door shut, but Lara stopped it with a hand before she did so. She turned to Charles and gave him a pointed look, silently telling him to leave so she could talk to her distressed sister. He reluctantly nodded and left the two alone.

When Lara entered the room her heart lurched in her chest. She softly closed the door behind her as she took in the disaster before her. Clothes were strewn across the room, holes had been punched in the walls, the mattress was on the other side of the room than the bed frame. She turned to look at her sister and had to fight back tears.

Kira's dark eyeliner was smeared around her eyes and streaked down her cheeks. Her normally vibrant green eyes were dull and bloodshot. Her deep auburn hair was half pulled out of its normal curly bun and was sticking out in all directions. Her knuckles were torn and bloody.

Lara let the barrier come down and felt her sister's emotions crash over her in waves. There were so many: anger, bitterness, despair, helplessness, self-loathing, the list went on. Before it overwhelmed her completely she slammed her mental walls back up and embraced her now sobbing twin. She sat them both down on the mattress, Kira clinging to her shirt for dear life as she let out strangled wails. Lara could smell the alcohol still on her breath.

The two twins sat there for hours, one of their heart's in disarray and the other desperately wishing she could fix it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Oof don't hate me! I know it's been so long since I have updated but my life has been crazy busy lately. I just underwent a massive move and I started law school! It's been a bit overwhelming, all the change at once, and I haven't had much time to write for fun. I have not, and will not, give up on my stories though rest assured!**

 **Just watched First Class for inspiration:)**

 **I plan to all update my Flash fic sometime soon, if any of you read that as well. I also have a lot of great ideas for the next few chapters of this one so hopefully I will have plenty of time to write-I probably will over the holiday weekend, as I still don't know many people in my new town and thus don't usually have plans.**

 **Enjoy and I'm sorry for the delay! :)**

* * *

The next day came and with it disaster.

Lara had spent most of the night holding her twin in her arms as sobs racked her whole body. Kira's pain broke her heart, even with her mental barrier preventing her empathy from picking up her emotions. Perhaps it was a twin thing, that even though she shouldn't have been able to feel the other's pain she somehow still did.

Her soothing words and comforting touch wasn't enough to help her sister and it killed her. After all, Kira had made it her mission to always be there for Lara and she desperately wanted to do the same. Searching her brain for an answer, she suddenly thought of an idea.

If she could project her own feelings onto others like she had Charles, was it possible she could also purposefully influence someone's emotions?

Putting one hand on each of her sister's cheeks, Lara closed her eyes. She thought about how it felt to feel calm, free of worries. She let the feeling course through her veins, imagining it washing over both of them like a wave, cleansing them of pain. Slowly Kira's sobs lessened until her breathing evened out.

" _Thank you_ ," Kira whispered before falling asleep, completely spent from her breakdown. Lara carefully laid her twin down on the mattress and began methodically cleaning up the destroyed room. There wasn't much she could do about the holes that had been punched into the walls, but she carefully picked up the mess of clothes one by one, neatly folding them and putting them away.

Looking at her sister's disheveled state she let out a deep sigh. She grabbed a cloth and ran it under the sink in the en suite bathroom before walking back to Kira and kneeling down beside her. Carefully, she got to work cleaning up her bloody knuckles and smeared makeup. Kira didn't so much as stir, so worn out that little could pull her out of her slumber. Lara smiled to herself; her twin had always been the heaviest sleeper she knew.

After grabbing a blanket and laying it over her sister, Lara figured she'd done all she could for the moment. Exiting the room, she retraced the steps back to her own, secluded, room so she could change out of her tear stained and rumpled clothing. Her body felt tired as she went through the motions of dressing herself in an oversized, off the shoulder sweater and high waisted jeans, though her mind was far too wired for her to even think about trying to sleep.

With the purpose of finding Charles, she exited her room and began to wander around the complex, suddenly aware that she had no idea where he would be. She took a turn around a corner and saw the hallway was full of well dressed men, probably CIA agents, walking to and from. Lara felt suddenly nervous at being around so many others. She took a moment to fortify her mental barrier before continuing down the hall. There were more people around today than there had been the previous night, and she felt the pull of all their emotions on her barrier, straining against her mind. She held steadfast, able to keep the majority of their emotions at bay, only noticing ghosts of their feelings breach her defenses.

"Oh, you're one of _them_ aren't you?" one of the men asked her, a look of disdain on his face. Her heart lurched in her throat as she felt a light wave of contempt rush over her. She mumbled an apology, trying to move around him and avoid any trouble. "Oh no you don't. Your people are this way," he sneered, grabbing her arm and leading her roughly to a set of closed doors. His large palm slapped against one of the doors, pushing them open as he shoved her inside.

He left immediately, leaving her standing alone in a room full of people staring at her with shocked looks on their faces. Lara looked around at each of them, suddenly very unsure of herself.

"You're Kira's twin, aren't you?" a blonde girl asked her, delight creeping up onto her features. It hit her that these must be the other mutants Charles told her about.

"Yes," Lara said softly, nervous under all the unfamiliar gazes.

"Thank goodness!" the blonde replied, looking positively thrilled that Lara was there. "We've all been excited to meet you!" Lara felt the girl's excitement brush up against her mental barrier, telling her that this girl was, in fact, genuinely happy to see her. As someone who was perpetually isolated, this came as a pleasant surprise.

"What can you do?" the only other girl in the room asked. Apprehension gripped Lara's heart at the question, though she felt the others' innocent curiosity and knew they meant no harm.

In response, Lara lifted her hands in front of her and closed her eyes. She pictured the six others in her mind, imagining her powers reaching out and gripping onto each of them. She remembered how it felt to be scared, the single most potent emotion she had ever felt. Everyone in the room suddenly started screaming in terror or cowering in a corner, feeling the purest fright they had ever felt. After a few seconds, Lara let the fear fade, leaving the room uncomfortably quiet.

"You're an empath," Raven whispered, a hint of awe in her tone. Lara didn't know what else to do but nod awkwardly, unused to being the center of attention. "That's awesome! Guys, what should her code name be?"

Silence enveloped the room as everyone thought carefully about the question. Lara had absolutely no clue what an appropriate code name would be, so she kept quiet as everyone deliberated.

"Well," the man with glasses mused, "you could say that emotions are the windows to the soul and the Greek goddess of the soul is Psyche. She…"

"...was put through dangerous trials by Aphrodite in order to find her husband, Eros, Aphrodite's son. She went through all of them despite the danger in order to get back to him," Lara finished, thinking over the name. "I like it," she eventually decided, satisfied with the name.

Once that was settled, everyone else went through and introduced themselves, providing a quick overview of their abilities. Lara found herself amazed by all of them; she had never met anyone else like herself other than her twin before waking up here and was overwhelmingly happy to have found others like herself.

"Lara," Raven giggled, suddenly feeling much happier than she had a moment ago. "I think you're projecting your emotions onto us." At this Lara blushed, wishing she had better control over her empathy so that everyone didn't know just how much it meant to her to no longer feel alone in the world.

She mumbled a quick apology, a blush rising up onto her cheeks as she made sure her mental barriers were back to keeping her own emotions in, and others' out. It was difficult, more so around them than it hand been around the CIA agents. Perhaps it was because their abilities made them stronger than the humans; made them _more_ themselves. It was a curious thing.

She noticed the blonde boy, Alex, refused to meet her eyes. He stiffened noticeably when Raven asked where her twin was today. Lara figured he must have been the one to ask Kira about her scars. She felt a little angry with him at the realization, but tried to keep an open mind, not wanting to risk alienating one of the only people who could understand her. Focusing intently on him, she felt a rush of guilt overcome her and decided she would forgive him.

"Kira had a rough night," she replied vaguely, not wanting to air her sister's dirty laundry out to these virtual strangers. Her curt tone must have been enough for the others to realize that the subject should remain off limits. "Where's Charles?"

"He, Agent McTaggart, and Erik had business to attend to," Raven explained, an eyebrow raised in curiosity at the girl's question. She had just met a whole group of people just like her, yet she seemed more concerned with her oldest friend. _Interesting_.

Lara nodded, a pang of disappointment in her chest. She had been excited to tell him of the progress she had with her abilities, after all he seemed to understand the struggles she faced. She also wanted to discuss her sister with him, hoping he had some insight on how to help her. The moment of disappointment she felt had been mirrored onto Raven, but the blonde decided to keep the accidental projection to herself, her lips curling into a small smile.

Alex and Darwin left the couches to play some game on the other side of the room. Lara had never seen anything like it and had absolutely no idea was it was. Raven had told her that it was something called a 'pinball machine,' though what that meant was beyond her. Despite her curiosity at the odd contraption, she remained on the couch, sitting comfortably between Angel and Raven. It felt strangely close to having girlfriends, something she had never experienced before. The thought delighted her.

She was pulled out of her happy musing by two agents approaching the massive window, who immediately began heckling Angel. Lara was generally a passive person, not quick to annoy or anger. However she couldn't stand watching Angel stiffen uncomfortably, nor could she stand the horrible mixture of lust and disgust emanating off the men. Hank made a move to stand up and close the curtain, but Lara held out a hand to stop him. She stood up slowly, making her face mold into an inviting smile. She approached the window, the two men's attention effectively captured by her act. She winked her blue eye at them at blew a kiss, making sure that along with the kiss she sent the most crippling feeling of sadness possible. They fell to their knees, heavy sobs rolling down their cheeks as they cried for their mothers. She smirked at them before sharply drawing the curtains shut.

When she turned around, everyone was absolutely shocked that the seemingly quiet and sweet girl did such a thing. She simply looked at them, letting her intense desire to protect her new friends roll of her and envelop each of them. Immediately they understood and gave her small smiles.

"They're just guys being stupid," Lara assured, returning to her seat between the other girls.

"Guys being stupid I can handle," Angel cut her off, annoyed once again. "Okay? I've handled that my whole life. But I'd rather a bunch of guys stare at me with my clothes off than the way these ones stare at me." At this Lara frowned, wishing her new friend hadn't been through so much.

Suddenly loud thumping noises filled the room and Lara was overcome with an intense feeling of dread. She didn't know where it was coming from exactly, though it felt like it was coming from a bunch of places all at once.

"Something's wrong," she whispered, growing more and more uneasy by the second. Out of nowhere a body fell from the sky, landing directly in front of the window. They all let out a scream, especially Lara, who had only seen a dead body once in her whole life...so long ago it felt like another lifetime all together. As more and more agents fell, the young mutants began to panic, desperately trying to escape but having nowhere to go. Her own fear began to dissolve her barriers, and Lara was suddenly overwhelmed by the fear of her friends, the fear of the agents, their pain the moment before they were killed. She couldn't breathe, it was too much.

As if the heavens had answered a prayer she hadn't known she had sent, she felt the familiar embrace of her sister wrapping her arms around her. She felt immediately comforted, knowing Kira was pushing an illusion onto her once again. She was too grateful for the reprieve to care.

The thing was, Lara knew she would never forget what she had experienced today.

Kira, having heard the commotion and immediately seeking out her sister, ushered her along with the others, making sure Lara remained numb to the barrage of emotions around her as they huddled in a corner of the room. After her sister's comfort and help the night before, Kira was more than happy to return the favor now. The sight before her was terrifying, yes, but terrifying things hardly affected Kira as they should. She had seen, done, too much to be scared by most things.

Darwin and Alex, bless their hearts, put their arms out in an attempt to shield the others from the mayhem unfolding around them. Gunfire and screams rang out all around them. It was a horrifying scene, truly, and Lara was deeply confused as to what the hell was transpiring.

As quickly as it had came, the attack seemed to be over. The silence that hung in the air now was deafening as they all stood, on guard, unsure of what would happen next. Three men entered the room, sizing up the group of young mutants. Lara didn't like the looks on their faces as they stared at them.

"Where's the telepath?" the one in the odd metal helmet asked. The question about made Lara's heart stop. So they were after Charles? That didn't make sense. The man was far too kind and gentle to associate with these barbarians, or even to do something enough to piss them off to this caliber. She didn't understand, but she wasn't about to let them harm the one person who had helped her, who could continue to help her.

As if Kira had read her mind, she reached out and kept Lara in place as she went to make a move towards the man in the helmet. The movement didn't go unnoticed by the man, who quirked an eyebrow at her in response, no doubt surprised that the fragile looking girl in tears had attempted to make a move at him. When the strange red man informed him that Charles was not here, he took off the helmet and smiled at the youngsters. The smile made an apprehensive shiver run up Lara's spine.

"Good evening, my name is Sebastian Shaw," he introduced himself calmly, as if he hadn't just murdered an entire government base full of agents. "And I am not here to hurt you."

"Freeze!" a lone guard shouted, pouting his gun at Shaw. The red man evaporated in thin air, reappearing behind the guard and murdering him on the spot. With Kira now distracted and her illusion not strongly in place, Lara felt the agony and pain as the man slowly died. In response she let out a gut wrenching cry, earning the attention of everyone in the room. Kira bent down and embraced her sister, bringing the illusion back up to provide her some relief.

"Interesting," Shaw observed, saying nothing else about the outburst. "My friends, there is a revolution coming. When mankind discovers who we are, what we can do, each of us will face a choice: be enslaved…" he looked at each of them as he paused, "...or rise up and rule. Choose freely, but know that if you are not with us, then by definition you are against us. So...you can stay and fight for the people who hate and fear you, or you can join me and live like kings…" he looked directly at Angel now, "...and queens."

The speech made Lara sick to her stomach, that this man could talk so casually about genocide and world domination as if it were nothing. Sure, there were many humans who were horrible to mutants. This hate, though, was born out of fear. Mutants were the unknown, and society had always feared the unknown. But that didn't mean they all deserved to be slaughtered in droves, such as that had occurred tonight. Lara's face pulled into a glare, one more acidic than she had ever given anyone.

Lara's heart lurched in her chest as Angel put her hand in Shaw's and let him guide her away from them. She felt Kira's hands clutch harder into her skin and knew her twin was just as shocked.

"Angel, are you kidding me?" Kira asked, voice breaking in such a way that it broke Lara's heart. Angel simply motioned for them to join her, though no one moved an inch.

"We don't belong here," she declared, calmly. "And that's nothing to be ashamed of." Darwin reached out, expecting her to return to them, but she simply turned around and left.

The next moments passed by in slow motion for Lara. She was so stunned by her new friends betrayal that she was barely able to register her surroundings. She didn't hear Darwin and Alex talking about how they had to do something, or hear them whispering some kind of plan to each other.

What did register, though, was Shaw absorbing one of Alex's energy blasts (when did he set that off?) and shove it right into Darwin. She watched in horror as the poor man's body fought to adapt, fought to find a way to survive. She watched as he crumbled from the inside out, feeling every iota of the anguish he had felt. She had no tears left to shed, though, simply collapsing to her knees and feeling absolutely nothing. It was as if a switch inside her had flipped. One minute she felt it all, and the next nothing at all. It was an empty feeling, but at the same time there was a certain peace to the nothingness.

All she had ever wanted was peace.

* * *

Kira didn't know how much time had passed between Darwin's death and Charles and Erik's return. It must have been a good amount, though, judging by the fact that the sun was now shining. They all had congregated in front of what remained of the facility, sitting on a concrete bench that remained amidst all the rubble. She mourned the loss of both her friends, grieving the loss of Darwin's life and Angel's betrayal. She had felt such a kinship to the girl, and seeing her leave them all behind to a group of murderers had stung more than she cared to admit.

She remembered, now, why she never let others in. The pain when they left or hurt you was just too great.

When she saw them return she jumped out of her seat and rushed towards them, making a beeline straight towards Charles. Normally she would have sought out Erik, for some reason she was strangely drawn towards the man, but her concern for her twin outweighed anything else in that moment.

"Charles," she choked out, all the repressed emotion finally bubbling its way up her throat. "Lara...she…" She didn't know how to describe it exactly, so she resorted to simply grabbing onto his arm and pulling him in the direction of her sister.

Lara sat stone still on the concrete bench, a blank expression on her face. The only movement Kira could see was the slow blinks of her eyes and the subtle rise and fall of her chest that signaled she was, in fact, still breathing.

"What happened?" Charles whispered, looking around at all the destruction. It troubled him deeply how much tragedy must have struck to create such a scene, but his heart clenched the most for the poor girl sitting before him. She had a vacant look in her usually vibrant eyes, seemingly staring right through anything in her line of sight. Hesitantly he raised finger to his temple, closing his eyes and delving into her mind.

As soon as he breached her thoughts he could see everything that had happened hours before. He could see the massacre of the agents, the young group of individuals he had recruited screaming in terror, the young woman whose mind he was in screaming and collapsing to the ground in pain as she felt all of it. He knew he should be able to feel what she had felt now that he was in her mind, whether or not she projected onto him. Instead, though, he felt absolutely nothing. _She_ felt absolutely nothing.

His heart broke as he removed his finger from his temple and reopened his eyes. Looking at her now, the terrible reality of the situation sunk deep in his heart. He looked at the poor girl's twin, whose green eyes were alight with concern. He swallowed thickly before saying the words he wished he'd never had to say.

"She's turned it all off," he forced the words out. "All of her emotions, her ability to feel others...she's turned it all off."

"What?" Kira whispered in response, not believing what she was hearing.

"She's gone apathetic."


End file.
